BDA opposes publication of addresses in GDC Register
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- Published: Wednesday, 15 June 2016 07:46
- Written by News Editor
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The British Dental Association (BDA) has indicated it will oppose publication of any registrants’ address information in the General Dental Council’s (GDC) public register. The GDC has set up a consultation which provides two options for this change: showing registrant names and GDC number only, or showing registrant names, GDC number and the town in which they are registered.
The BDA will be contacting all its members and encouraging them to take part in the consultation. Mick Armstrong, Chair of the British Dental Association, said: “Our chief concern has always been the safety of our members. There has never been any justification for offering registrants’ full addresses online, and publishing their home towns confers no benefit to either practitioners or patients. We believe the GDC should follow the lead set by the majority of healthcare regulators and publish no details of registrants’ addresses. We will be contacting all our members and encouraging them to have their say.”
Announcing the consultation, Ian Brack, Chief Executive of the General Dental Council, said: "It was a significant decision by Council to move away from publishing dental professionals' full address details to the two options we are progressing. We want to bring GDC in line with other professional healthcare regulators, balancing our role in protecting the public with the need to treat dental professionals fairly, whilst protecting their personal information. We are very keen to hear from all interested parties of the merits of publishing the name and number of the dental professional, compared with the name, number and home town appearing on the register, before we make our final decision. Whatever outcome is reached, the registration number will become the primary identifier of registration status, so it is good practice for dentists and dental care professionals to start to display it appropriately."
The short, online consultation can be found here and is open until 30 June 2016.
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